Shashal: Zoloft after finished tapering off benzo

[Shashal]

PS: Curcumin is a kind of weak MAOIs, 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_oxidase_inhibitor

 

Quote

 

Naturally occurring RIMAs in plants

Curcumin[53] (selectivity for MAO-A and reliability of research on curcumin are disputed)[54]

 

 

Because of its poor bioavailability, you may not find any effect from taking them directly or from cooking. 

 

But when you take it from a special form like Curcumin Elite™️ or Longvida®️, it will show some weak MAOIs effects. 

 

If you are sensitive to any serotonergic meds you have to avoid curcumin!

[Ariel]

@Shashal

How are you doing?

Thinking of you <3

[Shashal]

On 6/18/2022 at 12:46 AM, Ariel said:

@Shashal

How are you doing?

Thinking of you ❤️

 

Thanks for asking @Ariel

 

I feel better now after I stopped taking curcumin, akathisia has gone for a while, tingling is much better, but still has windows and waves. My remain symptoms are tinnitus, buzzing head, restless, breathless, tremor, muscle pain… My sleep is better 

 

I felt much much better from May but hit a wave from June, don’t know what caused that, I’m still in recovering in this wave.
 

Now I just take 15mg x 3 Gabapentin 

 

hope you are well too, hug🤗 

[Ariel]

Hi @Shashal

 

I am glad to read you're feeling better, overall. 

You have been through a lot these past few years, it's great that you're noticing improvements!

 

I'm sorry about this recent wave. Sometimes it's impossible to know what causes the wave, sometimes they just happen even though we have been doing everything "right". Just part of our bodies' natural healing and the windows and waves pattern, as you say.

 

It sounds like you are able to maintain a positive attitude about it and focus on recovery. Well done.

I trust that things will continue to get better for you and your remaining symptoms will gradually fade. 

 

Hang in there, Shashal, healing is happening! 

<3

[Shashal]

@Ariel wow, thank you so much for your encouragement,  this is meant a lot to me.

 

happy healing❤️ 

[Ariel]

Thinking of you @Shashal

Peace and healing vibes <3

[Shashal]

On 7/30/2022 at 6:43 PM, Ariel said:

Thinking of you @Shashal

Peace and healing vibes <3

 
Sending hugs to you @Ariel, very appreciate that you still care about me.

Good news is I’m feeling much much better now, I can go to work and enjoy my life most of time now, sleep well and eat well, akathisia totally gone! Although I still have windows and waves, tinnitus, sweating attacks, abnormal pains… but they are not bothering me too much, I believe I will be fully healed one day, and I believe you will fully healed too! 😘

[Shashal]

Dear SA friends,

 

It’s been 3 years mark since my last setback on April 2021, I got significant better feeling on 2023. Now I’m feeling 80% normal and fully return to my life and work, I moved into new house which I designed for the renovation by myself, I cannot make it totally 2 years ago. 

 

Mostly I just forgot the symptoms, I sleep well, not have anxiety and akathisia anymore, sometimes only have some minor symptoms like muscle pain, tinnitus, headache and some mild neurological symptoms which is not bother me at all.

 

I try my best to avoid medicines, caffeine drinks, tea, chocolate and any food may affect serotonin (like curcumin and ginseng), most important is keep healthy to avoid virus infection, I read a lot that Covid will trigger setbacks.

 

For retrospective, I think my last setback was trigger by Trazodone, I dosed myself for a tiny dose multiple times without any bad result until it changed me. On 2022 I got worse because I continued taking the Cyproheptadine because I believed it can help with my symptoms, but as it is a 5-HT2A antagonist which is same as Trazodone, it up-regulation the 5-HT2A receptor levels so made my anxiety level high to the sky when I have inter-dose withdraw for that. 

 

So for my lesson and learn, I should not touch any meds affect with my serotonin receptor to “cure” my problems. 

 

Here is what I had tried during my setback, and this is not a medical advice, this is only my experience, everyone is different please do not try any medicine without medical professional’s advice.

 

 

Which make me worse:

Trazodone, as I said I believed it triggered my setback, and it cause serotonin syndrome combine with Tandospirone (Similar with Buspirone).

 

Tandospirone (Similar with Buspirone), which prescribed from my doctor, it made my serotonin level very high and caused my akathisia for almost 2 years. Not help for anxiety at all.

 

Cyproheptadine, it helps at very beginning, it can lower the serotonin level and have mild effect for anxiety, but as it is the 5-HT2A antagonist, when you keep taking this, you will experience the revenge like all others did.

 

CBD oil, lavender oil, this is very tricky and let me know everyone is different. On my first withdraw journey I got nothing bad from CBD oil, but during my setback, due to my high serotonin level cause by 5-HT1A agonist, any tiny dose can affect the serotonin would cause every bad reaction to me. Both CBD oil, lavender oil, make me sick during my high serotonin level stage. When I first touched lavender oil, I can take a whole capsule of that, it made me calm, but when I continued taking that for days, I became to intolerance it and a tiny dose (like 1% capsule) of that would made me sick. So if you have experienced serotonin syndrome before, avoid these. CBD oil, lavender oil can affect 5-HT1A receptors.

 

Curcumin, it is a MAOs can higher the serotonin level, yes it may help for some kind of withdraw, but not suitable for my situation. When I started to take this, I didn’t notice to much bad effects, but if you continued took MAOs it will change your serotonin / dopamine / norepinephrine level and makes you out of control. Because high serotonin may lower the dopamine level, I started to experience the stiff muscles, but as I took too many things, after taking 2 months curcumin, I found my symptoms were caused by that, if I continued taking it, I experienced the bad reactions for this, but if I stopped it, it also has bad withdraw! Curcumin is the last things I took, after I withdraw this, I started to heal from this nightmare.

 

Which are useless:

Lamotrigine，as I said, everyone is different, it looks like Lamotrigine is promising after I read on SA topics, but it didn’t help me, it make me feel strange when I fall asleep, and sometimes made me akathisia worse. But luckily, I didn’t have good result on that so I just tried a few times, so only one time bad feeling after I took this.

 

Quetiapine, prescribed from my doctor, started on a very tiny dose. Caused RLS and morning akathisia. Very weird every time after I took it, I have some windows, but due to the bad reactions I only tried few times. 

 

Memantine，no benefit but make me muscle symptoms worse.

 

Ashwagandha, Resveratrol, Alpha-linolenic acid, do not have any good or bad reactions, stop taking that without any withdraw after months.

 

Which might helped me:

Redoxon, a mixed vitamin C / D and zinc, I think most useful is 1000mg vitamin C, it calms me very quick for my mild chemical anxiety, don’t know why, I drank it every day for months.

 

NAC, calms me during my withdraw, both for anxiety and akathisia.

 

Gaba/ L-theanine, mild calming effects, and L-theanine has mild effect for akathisia. I think I had brain leaks because I had very quick response for gaba, but as I’m afraid it will affect for my gaba receptors, so I just took is on very limit situation.

 

Gabapentin, I think it is similar like lamotrigine, but it was much suitable for me, it doesn’t affect dopamine receptors. A tiny dose helped me to tolerance the symptoms better, not totally but made me feel a little better. I took it regularly with a very tiny dose which I can feel the effect, and when I feels better, I taper it by 10% method to stop it without any problem. I took it for almost 1 year.

 

Riluzole, it calmed me and made me returned to inner peace. I had tried two rounds of this. First time because I took curcumin at the same time, so I thought that was Riluzole cause the problem (muscle stiffness). But second time after I stopped curcumin, no bad reactions from Riluzole. Still a very tiny dose, like 1/50 pill, need to taper, tinnitus will get worse if taper too fast. I only used it for weeks.

 

Others like fish oil, magnesium I didn’t feel anything good or bad, but I believe that they are good for my health, so I still keep taking these as needed. 

 

All I want to say, there is no magic cure for this, only listen to your body and let time to heal you, a right medicine and supplement can helps you from 50% to 60%, but if you try wrong, it will makes you much much worse even back to square one. Hope everyone can heal very soon!  

[Tweed9674]

It's great to read that you now feel better! Thank you for sharing. There is hope!